Creditors claim THQ still owes hundreds of millions

THQ may have gone bankrupt and auctioned off all its property, but it seems there's a little more it has to do. A number of creditors are seeking over $200 million in claims, with amounts ranging from the small ($2.98) to the large ($39 million). Even THQ subsidiaries and studios like Volition, Vigil, and THQ Wireless are included in the claims list.

Microsoft filed one claim for $213,772 in licensing fees for third-party peripherals, and another for $888,652 in finance fees. Zuffa, LLC, parent company of UFC, is seeking $1.9 million in unpaid royalty fees, while Codemasters is looking for $1 million in unpaid royalty fees for DiRT 3, Bodycount, and other games. Double Fine filed for $595,000 in royalties for Stacking and Costume Quest, plus money owed for PlayStation Plus promotions.

There are plenty of other companies and individuals filing claims against THQ, including former executives Jason Rubin and Jason Kay. They're seeking $2 million and $2.1 million, respectively, from THQ and its four subsidiaries for unpaid salary, severance, and breach of employee contract. The Entertainment Software Association is asking for $190,424.75 for an E3 2013 booth, while Lucasfilm wants royalties for mobile games Star Wars: Lightsaber Duel and Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner.

As you can see, a lot of companies want things paid out after THQ went under. New claims keep coming in against the former company, including ones from artists, developers, and contractors that have yet to be paid for work done on unreleased games. However, no claims can be paid until the bankruptcy case ends next month.

I love the $2.98.. I am sure Jason Rubin would have personally given them $3 had they asked for it while THQ were still in business, such a stupid thing to claim for. As for the rest all I can say is ouch, I knew THQ were in a financial mess but not to this degree.

The "no surprise" part, seems to me at least, is that the owner of the original loan they defaulted on isn't listed on the claimants list.

I.e., Wells Fargo got their money, or settled with incomes from liquidation of assets, auctions, future stream of money that's going to come in for certain games still in sale. While Rubin didn't get paid, Double Fine seems to have missed money on the Costume Quest and Stacking sales since they renegotiated the price-point, and added it to the ps+ promotions. The rest is from contractors who did apparently relatively heavy work on recent titles, along with personnel in any amount of the studios THQ owned.

Meh, we'll see. Bankruptcy always brings out the worst in creditors and the worst creditors, and I would not be surprised if some of that money are "surprise" fees or pseudo-legal challenges to see just how much can be taken off the boat before it's gone fully underwater. I would not be surprised if it was a large figure though; large corporations tend to lack liquidity in much of their infrastructure, and I'd be surprised if a lot of it wasn't some level of debt. Even Microsoft and Apple carry debt, it's an inherent and necessary portion of running a business, regardless of revenues.